Graduate Academic Programs

Full-time Graduate Student Definition

A student enrolled in three credit hours per semester is defined as a part-time graduate student for academic purposes. A student who is enrolled in six graduate credit hours per semester is defined as a full-time graduate student.

Note: Students enrolled in three credit hours per semester may delay a scheduled graduation date as a result of part-time enrollment.

Graduate Admissions

A student applying for an NCWU graduate program must provide the following criteria:

Complete and submit online graduate application
Submit proof of undergraduate degree in subject or related field by requesting official transcript from regionally accrediting institution(s)
Note: If graduate level credits have been attempted, official transcript must be requested from all institution(s)
Resume with two references (Must be able to provide reference letters upon request)
Note: MSCJ students require two years of experience in criminal justice or related field. Students not meeting this criteria will be required to complete an internship once admitted to the program
Complete a statement of purpose
Minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.5
Note: Graduate school applicants with a cumulative GPA below 2.5 may still be considered based upon other factors submitted in the application
Completed Background Check
Note: Applications for admission are considered for acceptance to the University when all required information is submitted. All will be subjected to a background check which may impact admission consideration

The applicant is responsible for providing accurate and current information. If falsification, misrepresentation or omission occurs, admission may be revoked. Financial aid may not be received until all transcripts have been submitted.

Grading Rubric

A	Excellent. Highest professional quality (4 quality points per credit hour)
B	Good. Professional quality (3 quality points per credit hour)
C	Passing work (2 quality points per credit hour)
F	Failing (No quality points assigned)
INC	Incomplete. A grade of Incomplete (INC) indicates that the completion of some part of the work for the course has been deferred. The grade of INC is assigned at the discretion of the instructor when a student who is otherwise passing has not, due to circumstances beyond his/her control, completed all the work in the course. The grade of INC should not be recorded for a student who has not completed the major portion of the work of the course. An INC should not be given if the faculty member is uncertain that the student attended the course; in that case, the grade of F should be assigned. An Incomplete (“INC”) grade must be removed within eight weeks following the end of the term. If the “INC” is not removed in the required time, a grade of “F” will be recorded. No student may register for an Independent Study or an Unscheduled Course with an “INC” on his or her record. The Vice President of Academic Affairs must approve extensions beyond the eight-week window. Extensions must be submitted in writing to the Vice President of Academic Affairs by the instructor. A student with a grade of Incomplete (INC) will be flagged, withdrawn from future courses, and unable to register for future courses until all courses with a grade of INC have been finished. A grade of INC will impact students’ ability to complete subsequent courses. (The INC Policy does not apply to MSCJ Internship.)
W	The W grade is given to students who drop a course or withdraw from the university prior to the drop date, after the second Tuesday and until the fourth week of the semester, as specified in the academic calendar. A grade of “W” carries no academic penalty, however students will remain responsible for the cost of the course. The student will not receive credit for that course in his or her grade point average.
XF	A final grade of XF is assigned by instructors for students who fail the course due to nonattendance. An XF grade is treated as an F for all academic policy purposes.
WF	A final grade of WF is assigned by the Registrar’s office for students who are administratively withdrawn due to violations of the Conduct Principles and Regulations of the university.

A student who earns one grade of C will receive a notice of Academic Warning. The student will be required to meet or confer with the Program Coordinator to discuss the circumstances and receive academic counsel.

A student who earns two C grades will be notified in writing he/she will be placed on Academic Probation. The student will be required to meet or confer with the Program Coordinator to discuss the circumstances and receive academic counsel.

A student who earns three C grades will be notified in writing that he/she will be academically suspended, and immediately dropped from the graduate program.

Academic Suspension

A student who receives an F grade for a course will be flagged, and removed from the program for academic suspension. The student will have his/her status reviewed by the program, and will be notified, within ten working days, whether he/she will be allowed to continue the program.

Appealing Academic Suspension

A student who wishes to appeal his or her suspension must appeal in writing to the Academic Policy Committee. The Academic Policy Committee normally will not approve an appeal unless it is based on personal, medical or psychological problems of an extreme nature that were unforeseeable and uncontrollable and the student provides evidence that the situation has been remedied. The written appeal must contain the following information:

Rationale for the appeal
Documentation of personal, family or medical problems
Evidence that the problems have been resolved

Appeals Process

A student may appeal a final grade in a course for any of the three reasons:

The instructor made a calculation error in determining the grade.
The instructor failed to follow the grading policy described in the syllabus.
The instructor did not follow one or more of the university policies.

If the student finds it necessary to appeal a course grade, he/she should:

First, contact the instructor of the course and attempt to resolve the situation.
If the resolution is not forthcoming and the student wishes to proceed, he/she must consult with the appropriate Program Coordinator for mediation. If the instructor of the course is also the Program Coordinator, the student must consult with the Vice President of Academic Affairs.
If the dispute remains unresolved, the student may next appeal the grade, in writing, to the Academic Policy Committee. (The function of the APC in a grade appeal is to evaluate the appeal in terms of the stated grounds for the appeal. The Committee’s decision may be to keep the assigned grade or to change the assigned grade.) The Committee shall provide a written justification to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for its decision, including minority opinions when they exist, no later than one calendar week after the Committee’s meeting. The Vice President of Academic Affairs shall inform the student, the instructor, the Program Coordinator, and the Registrar of the Committee’s decision and provide all parties with copies of the Committee’s report.
In the case of a change of grade, the Vice President of Academic Affairs shall implement the change of grade as recommended by the Committee on the student’s official transcript through the change of grade procedure. This shall be the last step in the deliberation of the formal grade appeal.

A student must appeal within eight weeks of the last day of the course and should include the following:

Specific academic reasons for appealing the grade.
Evidence supporting the grade appeal such as copies of graded assignments, course syllabus, relevant emails, etc.
Contact information (including email and mailing address) to which communication from the Chair of the Academic Policy Committee, Program Coordinator, and Vice President of Academic Affairs will be sent.
Any additional items which support the grade appeal.

The student should send all appeals to the Office of the Registrar for forwarding to the appropriate university officials.

Plagiarism and Cheating

The University and faculty guarantee the integrity of the academic process. Since cheating and plagiarism are threats to their integrity, all members of the University community must work together to prevent their occurrence. The instructor in any course assumes the responsibility for fair evaluation of academic progress and is obligated to explain at the beginning of each course how the University’s policy on cheating and plagiarism applies to that particular course. Students are expected to perform honestly and to work in every way possible to eliminate cheating by any member of a class. Definitions: ‘Cheating’ means the giving or receiving of information illicitly with intent to deceive the instructor in his or her effort to grade fairly any academic work. ‘Plagiarism’ is ‘to take and use as one’s own the thoughts, writings or inventions of another’ (Oxford English Dictionary). It is plagiarism when one uses direct quotations without proper credit and appropriate quotation marks and when one uses the ideas of another without proper credit.

When a faculty member believes an academic integrity violation has occurred in his or her class, the faculty member will discuss with the student the reasons for his or her suspicion of an academic integrity violation. The student will be given the opportunity to respond and to explain any circumstances that he or she believes the faculty member needs to consider with regard to the situation. Following this discussion, the faculty member makes a decision as to whether the student committed a violation.

If an instructor determines a student is guilty of cheating or plagiarism, the instructor will submit a written report of the incident to the Office of the Registrar with copies to the student. The report will be filed in the student’s permanent folder. No student may drop a course or withdraw from the University prior to resolving an Academic Integrity Charge.

The accused student will be reported immediately to the Vice President of Academic Affairs (or Designee). The student will be required to meet or confer with a council consisting of the Instructor of the course, the Program Coordinator, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and any other parties requested by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. The meeting will offer the student the opportunity to plead their case or confess. The council will determine the appropriate penalties for the student (Penalties may include the following: grade of zero credit on assignment in question, immediate withdrawal and grade of F for the course, immediate withdrawal from the graduate program, immediate expulsion from NCWU and any other penalties the council deems fitting). If the student wishes to pursue an appeal of the council’s decision, he/she must follow the NCWU appeals process and submit the appropriate documents to the Academic Policy Committee. See Academic Integrity Violations: Reporting, Penalties and Appeals .

Readmission

Students who previously attended Wesleyan and wish to return must apply for readmission. An Application for Readmission of Former Students can be obtained from the Office of Admissions at any of the University’s locations.

If the applicant has attended another post-secondary institution during the absence, an official transcript from each institution must be submitted. Students who have been academically or socially suspended may be required to submit additional materials for review by the University before a decision is made concerning their formal readmission. Students approved for readmission into the university must successfully pass a criminal background check.

Students who have been academically suspended, may not be eligible for readmission.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Graduate programs will have a minimum of 30 semester hours but no more than 36 semester hours.

A student with a GPA of at least 3.0 is considered to be in good standing. A student that is academically suspended for failing to maintain the GPA requirement or the course grade requirement may be placed on academic warning, probation, or academically suspended. Students placed on warning or probation may appeal this decision through the appeals progress; however, students academically suspended will have no recourse for appeal.

Commencement

A graduate student may march in the Commencement Ceremony only if they have completed all requirements for the graduate degree and have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. A student who cannot graduate in a semester for which the application for graduation was submitted, will need to submit a new application for any future graduation date.

Repeating Courses

Graduate students are not afforded the opportunity to repeat courses for which a failing grade has been received. Graduate students may repeat a course for which a grade of C has been earned in order to maintain satisfactory academic progress.